How To Wear a Full Coverage Base Without Looking like a 'cake face'

Back in the day when ‘Dream Matte Mousse‘ was the only foundation to be seen carrying in your Jane Norman PE bag, cake face was pretty unavoidable. This was especially the case when the Aero bar formula was paired with a translucent powder laden with talc from The Look or Bodycare. Ah, Dream Matte Mousse, concealer lips and pale face. A look so popular, I think that some girls in my year were actually nicknamed ‘Cake face’ by a typical group of spotty, gangly 14-year-old lads.

I haven’t purchased a pot of DMM in years, these days, I’m about the less is more approach when it comes to my makeup, but one thing has not changed and that is my love of a full coverage base.

Avoiding cake face…

Over the years, I’ve tried and tested a few ways to try and stop my foundation from bobbling while avoiding dry patches for powder formulas to cling to. And whilst my method isn’t always foolproof, cake face had been known to appear a few hours after applying what looks like perfectly applicated makeup, it’s pretty reliable most of the time.

Exfoliating weekly

Exfoliation is vital for buffing away those dead skin particles that cause your face to become dry which is often a primary cause of cake face. I use a chemical exfoliate on a daily basis and opt to give my face a good manual scrub on a weekly basis. Back in the day, my favourite exfoliator would be the St Ives invigorating scrub, it’s much too harsh for my skin now but it’s true to say that market wide exfoliators have come a long way since then. My current squeeze is the Bodyshop Vitamin C Microdermabrasion formula, it’s pretty amazing how it works and I urge you to try it if you want to see skincare magic occur before your very eyes.

Keep on top of the moisture

Moisturising is my favourite step of my skincare routine, I like to really work the formula into my skin and feel it seeping in. My current favourite moisturiser is from Harley Street Skincare and it is a lightweight formula that sinks into the skin without leaving a greasy residue. Depending on your skin type, find a moisturiser that works for you and never skip using it! Not only will your skin feel more comfortable, but it will also make any makeup you apply stick around longer and apply more evenly as your skin won’t be as thirsty and dry.

Choosing your base

To avoid cake face, a technique that has worked for me is to work with light layers. When working with a number of different products it can be easy for the different formulations to curdle and make a cake face situation occur. Lol. If you’re using brushes for your base, try to use brushes that are specifically made with bristles that can do the best work for the job. For example, my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush is excellent for cream-based products thanks to its synthetic bristles, whereas the Younique Powder Puff brush is perfect for working with dense powder formulations.

Every morning I moisturise with an SPF (Currently Olay Complete Our Original BB) and then if it’s a snazzy occasion I’ll use a primer, to add extra moisture to my skin and even out my skin tone. My current primers of choice are Pixi Flawless + Poreless and the iconic Clarins Beauty Flash Balm.

In the past, if you wanted to wear a more full coverage base, you’d often have to compromise on dewiness and glow – instead, more matte coverage formulations were positioned for us, full-coverage lovers. I’m currently wearing a mineral foundation and the Bare Minerals Original SPF Foundation is my pick of the crop. For a creamier and more full-throttle coverage, I use the Revlon Photo Ready InstaFix foundation which I raved about in my March monthly favourites so I won’t repeat here, but its a goody.